374 rue St Honoré

I’ve always believed that our homes choose us. All the apartments I’ve had in Paris have come to me by pure chance. I felt the same when I came to the Swarovski offices in Paris after having joined the company. We are based in a particularly magnificent townhouse on rue St Honoré, strategically positioned just a stone’s throw from the high jewelry Maisons on Place Vendôme. It is a symbolic location at the crossroads with rue Cambon, where Coco Chanel dreamed about creating extravagant yet everyday jewelry using faceted Swarovski crystal, and just a few minutes’ walk from the modern-day Mecca of fashion, Colette. Did you know that, in the 18th century, what is now our creative studio was home to Madame Geoffrin, famed for entertaining intellectuals, artists, politicians, and diplomats of the day? Well-known names such as Diderot and Voltaire were regularly invited to her Monday night dinner parties. I’ve always liked the idea that even now in the 21st century, we are in our own way continuing a tradition that turned this building into a place where ideas about the design of the modern world are debated and discussed. Perhaps it’s because it has been filled with such grand dreams and inspiration that the atmosphere is so conducive to creativity and imagination, for example my inspiring office, which was formerly Madame Geoffrin’s study…